Keeper inserting tool



1947- c. A. DOUGHERTY 2,431,636

KEEPER INSERTING TOOL Filed May 3. 1944 Patented Nov. 25, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KEEPER INSERTIN'G TOOL Charles A. Daugherty, Wilmington, Del.

Application May 3, 1944, Serial No. 533,879

(Cl. 81---5 .1)v

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a tool for inserting the keepers of valve stems.

In internal combustion engines the valves are held under tension by springs which bear against washers slidable on the stem, and the latter telescope split keepers which encircle the stem. The insertion or removal of these keepers is a difficult problem due to fact that in most vehicles the engines are supported quite low down in the vehicle and the workman .must depend upon his sense of feeling in inserting the keepers. 'An object of this invention is to provide a keeper inserting tool which will render insertion of the keeper certain and easy. Heretofore, tools of this kind have been provided but these prior tools have not found favor with mechanics because of the fact that the keeper were not properly gripped or positioned.

It is, therefore, another object of this invention to provide a keeper inserting tool which will hold the split portions of the keeper in outwardly divergent relation so as to provide for the ready encircling of the stem by the keeper,

A further object of this invention is to provide a tool of this kind embodying a pair of springpressed jaws and an intermediate jaw between the pair of jaws, the intermediate jaw being formed with outwardly divergent sides confronting the pair of jaws so as to thereby hold the two parts of the keeper in outwardly divergent relation.

To the foregoing objects, and others which may hereinafter more fully appear, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be more specifically referred to and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it is tobe understood that changes, variations. and modifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the inven-tion as claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a detail top plan partly broken away and in longitudinal section of a keeper inserting tool constructed according to an embodiment of this invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on thellin'e 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary top plan partly broken away and in longitudinal section of a modified form of this invention; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the .line 5-5 of Figure 4 of the intermediate jaw.

Referring to the drawings, and first to Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, the numerals l0 and II designate generally a pair of pivoted handles which are pivotally mounted on a pivot l3. The handles l0 and II are elongated and of hollow construction and are constantly urged apart at their rear ends by means of a U-shaped spring l2. The handle l0 has secured to the forward end thereof, a jaw member generally designated as M and the handle H has secured to the forward end thereof, a jaw generally designated as l5. The jaw I4 is of U-shape in transverse section as shown in Fig ure 3, having an upper wall It, a lower wall l1 and a connecting wall or bight l8. The jaw member I5 is also of U-shaped configuration in transverse section, and is formed of an upper wall IS, a lower wall 20 and a connecting wallv or bight 2 I.

The upper wall It of the jaw I4 is formed with a concave cutout 22 and the lower wal1 I! is also formed with a concave cutout 23. The outer edge of the cutout 23 is disposed inwardly from the outer edge of the cutout 22 so as to thereby form a seat 24 on which the lower end of one-half of a keeper is adapted to engage. The jaw I5 is also formed with a concave cutout 26 confronting the cutout 22, the cutout 26 being formed in the upper wall l9 and the lower wall 20 is formed with a concave cutout 21. The outer edge of the cutout 21 is positioned inwardly from the outer edge of the cutout 25 so as to thereby form a second seat 28 on which the other half 29 of the keeper is adapted to engage,

In order to provide a means whereby the two keeper members 25 and 29 will be held in the cutouts 22 and 26, with their lowerends on the seats 24v and 28, respectively, I have provided an intermediate jaw generally designated as 30. The intermediate jaw 30 includes an elongated fiat resilient wire or metal strip which is bent upon itself so as to form a pair of outwardly divergent jaws or sides 3| and 32. The jaw or side 3| confronts the jaw l2, and the jaw or side 32 confronts the jaw l 5. The outer ends of the jaws 3| and'32 are connected together by an arcuate-connecting member 33 having the concave side thereof outermost for engagement of the periphery of a valve stem 21%. The convergent or inner ends of the jaw members SI and 32 have extending laterally therefrom, extensions 35 and 36, respectively, The extension 36 has formed integral therewith an obtusely disposed elongated member 39 which extends rearwardly and is formed at its rear end with a substantially right angularly disposed and inwardly projecting stop member 49. A stop pin 4i is extended through 3 the opposite sides of the handle H] at the forward end of the handle and at a point spaced inwardly from the outer edge 42 of the handle l0, so that the elongated slide bar 31 may slidingly engage between the pin 4| and the outer edge or wall 42 of the handle I9. The handle II has secured transversely thereof, a stop pin 43 which is positioned inwardly from the outer side or wall 44 of the handle I and the elongated member or slide bar 39, slidingly engages in the space between the pin 43 and the inside of the wall 44. The inner edges of the walls of the jaws l4 and |5 are outwardly divergent as indicated at 45 and 46, respectively, so that the outer ends of the jaws l4 and I5 will readily slide over the outer surface of the valve stem 34 during the insertion of the keeper members 25 and 29.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5, there is disclosed a tool which is formed of a pair of handles 4'! and 48 which are similar to the handles l and II. The handles 4? and 48 are pivotally connected together at their forward ends on a pivot 49, and the handle 41 has formed integral with the forward end thereof a jaw member 55. The handle 48 has formed integral therewith a jaw member and the inner edges of the two jaw members 50 and 5|are formed inwardly convergent as indicated at 52 and 53, respectively. The jaw member 59 is formed U-shaped in transverse section similar to the construction shown in Figure 3, having a top wall 54 and a bottom wall 55. The top wall 54 is formed with a pair of cutouts 55 and 51 of concave configuration and the lower wall 55 is formed with a pair of cutouts 58 and 59. The cutouts 58 and 59 are of less depth than the cutouts 55 and 5'1 so as to thereby form seats for the inserts after the manner shown in Figure 3.

Jaw member 5| is U-shaped in transverse section after the manner shown in Figure 3 and includes an upper wall 59 having a pair of concave cutouts El and 52. The jaw 5| also includes a lower wall 53 having a pair of cutouts 64 and 65 which are of less depth than the cutouts BI and B2. The cutouts 54 and 65 confront the cutouts 58 and 59 and the cutouts El and 62 confront the cutouts 56 and 5E. The cutouts 56, 58, 6|, and 64 are formed on a greater radius than the cutouts '51, 59, 62 and 65 so as to provide for holding or clamping different sizes of inserts between the two jaws.

An intermediate jaw member generally designated as 65 is slidably mounted on the pivot 49 between the two jaws 59 and 5|. The intermediate jaw member 50 includes a body 6'! having keeper are then inserted in the cutouts 22 and 26 with the open sides thereof confronting each other and with their lower ends resting on the seats 24 and 28. The handles I9 and II may then be released so that the spring l2 will expand the handles and contract the jaws I4 and I5, so as to thereby tightly hold the keeper members 25 and 29 against the outwardly divergent sides 3| and 32 of the intermediate member 30. The concave connecting member 33 is then pressed against the periphery of the valve stem 34 and the tool moved forwardly so that the stem 34 will engage 7 between the'jaws I4 and I5. In view of the outj ment of the tool forwardly will push the intermediate jaw 39 inwardly so that the intermediate jaw 39 will become disengaged from the keeper members 25 and 29 and these members will then encompass the stem 34. When the keeper members 25 and 29 are disengaged from the intermediate jaw 39, the jaws l4 and I5 will tightly clamp these keeper members about the stem and they may be engaged in the conventional annular groove which is formed in the stem to receive these keepers. The tension on the valve springs may now be' released so that the valve washer may drop downwardly, and the washer at this time will engage the upwardly projecting an elongated opening 58 through which the pivot member 49 extends. The forward end of the body 61 has formed integral therewith a substantially V-shaped head or jaw 59 having inwardly convergent opposite sides 19 and 1| confronting jaws 59 and 5|; respectively. The outer end of the head 69 is formed with a concave cutout 12 which is adapted to engage the periphery of the valve stem after the manner in which the concave connecting member 33 engages the stem 34 in Figure 1.

In use and operation of this keeper inserting tool, the handles l9 and H are compressed or moved toward each other thereby opening the jaws l4 and P5. The intermediate jaw 39 is moved forwardly to the limit permitted by the stop members 38 and 45. At this time, the small end of the jaw formed by the sides 3| and 52 will be disposed adjacent the cutouts 22, 23, 2'5, and 21. The complementary portions 25 and 29 of the portions of the keeper members 25 and 29, so that when the handles I0 and II are compressed toward each other to open the jaws l4 and I5, the upper ends of the keeper members 25 and 29 will be seated in the keeper socket formed in the valve washer.

While tools of this kind have previously been constructed, such tools have not found favor with mechanics due to the fact that the keepers were not held in outwardly divergent relation so that they could readily encompass the valve stem as the tool was pushed forwardly. The result of the prior tools was that the keepers would become released or snap out of the jaws and, for this reason, the prior tools have usually been dis carded. However, with a tool as hereinbefore described; the keeper members will be firmly held about the stem until the valve washer has been lowered and due to the divergent positioning of the keeper members, prior to and during the insertion operation, the keeper members will readily slide over and about the valve stem and will be retained inencompassing position by the tension of the spring I2.

What'is claimed is:

1. A valve keeper inserting tool comprising a pair of pivoted handles, a pair confronting jaws carried by said handles, said jaws being U-shaped in transverse section and the parallel walls of each jaw having arcuate cut-outs with the cutout of one wall of less depth than the cut-out of the other wall, and a resilient intermediate jaw between? said pair of jaws and movable lengthwise therebetween, said intermediate jaw having outwardly divergent opposite sides confronting said cut-outs, and an arcuate connecting bar connecting the outer divergent ends of said sides togethen' 2. A valve keeper inserting tool comprising a pair of pivoted handles, a pair confronting jaws carried by said handles, said jaws being U-shaped in transverse section and the parallel walls of each jaw havingarcuate cut-outs with the cutout of one wall of less depth than the cut-out of 5 the other wall, and an intermediate jaw between said pair of jaws and movable lengthwise therebetween, said intermediate jaw having a pair of outwardly divergent arms confronting said cut-outs, an arcuate connecting bar between the divergent ends of said arms, rearwardly divergent extensions carried by said arms, obtusely inclined bars extending rearwardly from said extensions,

right angularly disposed inwardly projecting lugs carried by the rear ends of said latter bars, and stop pins carried by said handles engageable by said lugs to limit the forward movement of said intermediate jaw.

3.A valve keeper inserting tool comprising a pair of pivoted handles, a pair of confronting jaws carried by said handles, said jaws being U-shaped in transverse section and the parallel walls of each jaw having arcuate cutouts with the cut-out of one wall of less depth than the cut-out of the other wall, and an intermediate jaw slidable between said confronting jaws having a pair of outwardly divergent arms confronting said REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,779,306 Clark Oct. 21, 1930 1,816,446 Stapf July 28, 1931 1,861,973 Mindermann et a1. June 7, 1932 1,926,287 King Sept. 12, 1933 2,091,500 Clark Aug. 31, 1937 2,204,309 Hildenbrand June 11, 1940 

